How Safe Pod started?

Safe pod was the brainchild of Mr Eric Chua, Advisor to Queenstown District. He wanted to build a “Mental Wellness Community” where everyone in the community feels secure and free, they are aware that they will be well taken care of because there are resources available, and there is mutual support and understanding.

What are the objectives of Safe Pod?

The objectives of the Safe Pod in Queenstown are to

1. Increase mental health awareness in the community
2. Reduce stigma and discrimination
3. Enable new mode of support delivery:
   • Residents know where to get help
   • Relevant services easily accessible
4. Work with community partners to complement existing mental health programmes and act as first-tier community-based intervention

To achieve the objectives, there are the ABC of Safe Pod.

1. Awareness – Through Safe Pod mobile van wellness cafe deployed in community hot spots and schools, we aim to raise awareness on mental wellness leveraging on Lions Befrienders’ FACE AI technology, provide basic befriending and recruit volunteers.
2. Befriending – Recruit youth befrienders or “wellness ambassadors” and adult wellness befrienders. Equip them with skills on befriending, basic para-counselling and mental health first aid so that there is community support.
3. Counselling – Offer various modes of counselling support such as self-assessment on safepod.sg, physical and e-counselling. Moving forward, we aim to also provide WhatsApp and Phone counselling using AI technology.

Volunteer

If you are passionate about mental wellness, volunteer with us to becoming a Wellness Befrienders. We provide 6 training modules to equip you with the necessary skills. As a trained volunteer, you would then be able to reach out to your friend, relative and neighbour in supporting their mental wellness. You may also be matched to a befriendee in building a mentally resilient community after an onboarding programme.

Click here to register.